Greater East San Carlos Sees Record Home Prices.

The last Bastion of Affordability in San Carlos?

The Greater East San Carlos (GESC) neighborhood, known in the Realtor circles as Clearfield Park, has historically been the most affordable section of San Carlos. Often overlooked in favor of the more expensive White Oaks and Howard Park areas on the other side of El Camino, Clearfield Park is home to some very charming homes in very tight-knit neighborhoods, and has become the start of many a resident's journey to home ownership in San Carlos.

But as you may have seen in my Q1'21 San Carlos Recap last week, home prices are hitting all-time highs in San Carlos, and GESC is not immune from this historical surge in pricing. It was only a three years ago that a home first broke the $2M barrier in this neighborhood, and just last week the home at 87 Bayport Court sold for an eye-popping $2,560,000 — easily smashing the previous mark by nearly $400,000.

The average sales price for a home in Clearfield Park has jumped by over $500,000 since 2017, which represents a whopping 44% increase in less than 5 years.

There are a couple of points to consider when you look at these stats. First, Clearfield Park is home to an inordinate amount of smaller homes, especially north of Holly Street. Many of these older cinder-block homes have less than 1,000 square feet of living space which serves to keep the overall average on the lower side. Second, the number of sales in any given year in this select neighborhood pales by comparison to its brethren across the El Camino. In a good year, Clearfield Park will see about 20 sales. Contrast that with White Oaks, which normally turns over 4 times that amount every year. With a small data pool like this, the numbers can get skewed rather easily.

The future looks very bright for the east side of San Carlos. There is a huge push to bring bio-tech companies to this neighborhood, and that will certainly push home prices even higher as more high-paying jobs are brought into San Carlos. The big challenge ahead for the City is to balance this commercial growth while maintaining the charm and privacy for the residents who call this neighborhood home.